(Mandeville, Louisiana) – Nationally-known rare coin dealer Paul Hollis, 36, of Mandeville, Louisiana will formally announce his candidacy for the Republican Party’s nomination for the United States Senate on May 12. A number of prominent numismatists are on his campaign committee, such as John Albanese, Jeff Garrett, Paul Montgomery and Douglas Winter.

Hollis began collecting coins at the age of six after receiving a Peace dollar from his grandmother. In recent years, millions of viewers watched him on air when he hosted “The Coin Vault” television program on the Shop at Home network, and he also is known by many collectors and dealers from his earlier work as chief numismatist at Blanchard and Company in New Orleans.

A political science graduate of Louisiana State University, he is the owner of Paul Hollis Rare Coins in Mandeville, Louisiana. In addition to rare U.S. numismatic items, he specializes in ancient coins that circulated during the lifetime of Jesus Christ.

“Paul has the utmost integrity. He will bring enthusiasm and knowledge to the job,” said Winter.

Hollis is the son of former Louisiana State Senator Ken Hollis of Metairie and is a fiscal and social conservative who will run to the right of the only other announced Republican candidate, State Treasurer John Kennedy, a perennial candidate for office.

He will focus on his 18 year history in the Republican Party and contrast that with Kennedy’s recent conversion to the party within the last eight months.

In addition, he said he will remind voters that “Kennedy ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004 as a liberal Democrat” and finished third. He intends to personally invest in the campaign and says he has “the ability to raise significant funds from his contacts across the state and the country.”

Hollis released the following statement regarding his candidacy:

“I am running for the US Senate because I am concerned that Washington DC has grown out of touch and out of control. More often than not, government is the problem, not the solution. The regulatory and tax burdens that politicians have saddled our free enterprise system with do not reflect the values of our founding fathers.

Big government doesn’t help Americans do great things. Big government crowds out its citizenry and stifles innovation, sopping up much-needed resources and imposing red tape on the backbone of our economy-small businesses. God has blessed America as the greatest nation in the world.

Indeed, we have done so many great things in the 232 years since our founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence. But none of those great things were accomplished by bloated bureaucracies."

“Today, Americans spend more on taxes than they spend on housing, groceries and other basic living expenses combined. Small businesses, such as many coin dealerships, need to hire consultants and staffs just to navigate regulatory mazes and pay taxes.

I want to lead the fight to bring responsibility back to America’s fiscal and monetary policies to reduce our tax burden and banish regulatory red tape to the dust bin of history.”

The Louisiana primary is September 18 and the winner will face Senator Mary Landrieu in the general election that will be held on November 4.

“Senator Landrieu is perceived to be the most vulnerable Democrat United States Senator who is up for re-election in 2008. She won her two previous elections by very thin margins. The demographics of Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina have changed and the state is now trending more Republican.

Louisiana recently elected a 36-year old Republican Governor and the other United States Senator is a Republican. My entry into the Republican primary will make this race not only more interesting, but more competitive as well,” Hollis stated.